okay, so....today we slept in until 9am, a luxury on an adventure trip, but very welcome after go go go 7am starts. girls have rallied beatifully, even better than i considering the early mornings, and we have snorkled twice, once with sea turtles, normal and golden rays at islote tintorelas, where we walked with the iguanas, saw sharks in a collapsed lava tube with ocean access and brimming with baby iguanas, and penguins preening themselves on the lava rocks, and yesterday snorkeled where it was a bit murky but got to walk thru the mangrove trees and step over sealines sunning themselves oblivious to us to get there.
the eve after our arrival here, and the boat ride from hell where i thought i was going to die, and die again, for 2 hours, and we have to do again in an hour to get back to puerta ayora on the island of santa cruz, we went to a bar at the end of the "town" right on the beach and taught our guide Juan and his friend Nelson how to play shang hai while drinking Club beers and caipirinas half price for happy hour, while the sun set and the locals played beach volleyball and walked tight ropes above the sand, a very warm welcome and introduction to the isla. We befriended 2 Canadien girls who joined us for drinks as we exchanged travel stories and heard tales from the locals while playing cards.
a word for the less adventurous....first off, lots of "transfers" from taxi to bus to train to boat to van to car to boat taxi to plane to to to get the picture to get anywhere here, one can also walk or rent bikes once you get to the islands but most take the inexpensive pick up truck taxis where all snorkel gear and people are loaded in. to the volcano we took an open wood truck like we would take at Disney going 5 mph but here we were at full throttle, maybe 40 to 50 mph and bouncy bouncy on gravel, dirt and paved roads. toilet paper goes into the basura next to the toilet, and water is desalinzed not drinkable so only filtered via hotel or bottled water for drinking. no good medical facilities outside of the mainland so be careful, no slipping on rocks or getting sick here. girls got bug bites, mosquitos we think, a few horseflies near the lava by the sea that bite, and Bex`'s toe is swollen and pink we think from a bug bite but she is surviving in flip flops.
volcano walk was 10 miles roundtrip, starting in the fog and mud, then the sun and broken up lava, beautiful vistas of the caulderon, then after a picnic lunch under the shade of a large tree and a natural potty break we continued through lava trails to the vulcan chica, from where we had vistas of the surrounding islands and the lay of the local land. magnifico! walk back much easier and all in the beautiful sunshine, then our chiva (female goat, what they call the wooden truck to the volcano trail) ride to a local organic farm where we were served lunch and got to see coffee and bananas and papaya and tomatoes and many other veggies plus a fruit called lulu whatever that is and another called tree tomatoes which we tasted while watching a BBC video on the Galapagos. Lovely spot, delicious homecooked local meal, and interesting intro to the island economy.
we have just finished lunch, snorkeling, and showering and are awaiting our boat from hell back. sorry to say goodbye! i would say 2 to 3 days per island is needed at the least to sample what each has to offer. we met a research group out of univ. of texas who were at this one island, isabela, for 3 weeks doing acoustic research! 3 weeks here, hard to imagine with the island being so small, but with so many opps to explore daily i could see how one could fall in love, as they did.
it is expensive for the locals on these islands, i would guess like on Hawaii, and i can say i really enjoyed this kind of all inclusive trip, where our transfers and room and board and guide were included, so i didn´t have to think about pulling out our wallets so often plus there is only 1 bank for all 4 inhabited islands, on isla santa cruz, and the ATM doesn´t always work. also, since my spanish is not so good, having a guide with us during the days made comprehension and communication much easier as well as having a local with whom to practice and learn spanish. wetsuits a must, and are included with mask, snorkel and fins in our all inclusive trip here via Red Mangrove lodge.
finishing up my pisco sour before launch. ugh. maybe tonight we eat at a restaurant in puerta ayora reccomended by our guide, our last dinner before heading home. tomorrow we go to the Darwin center and then to a van to a boat taxi to a plane to Guayacuil for a day tour before we board our plane to Miami and then home. Hasta luega amigos! Besos a todos!
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